Machine for shaking out and opening textile fabrics



Nb'.741,750. PATENTBD'OCT. 20, 1903.

1). WELSH;

" MACHINE FOR SHAKING OUT AND OPENING TEXTILE FABRICS.

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PATENTBD OCT-L20, 1903.

- VD. WELSH. MACHINE FOR SHAKINGOUT ANID OPENING IBXTILBFABRIGS.

APPLICATION rnnndiso. a1, 1902.

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Patented October 20, 1993,

PATENT FFICE.

DAVID WELSH, OF SAXONVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS.

MACHINE FOR SHAKING OUT AND OPENING TEXTILE FABRICS? SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 741,? 50, dated October 20, 1903. Application filed December 31, 1902. Serial No. 137,270. (No model-l To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, DAVID WELSH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Saxonville, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Machines for Shaking Out and Opening Textile Fabrics, of which the following description, in connectionwith the accompany ing drawings, is a specification, like numerals on the drawings representing like parts.

I This invention has for its object the production of a novel machine for shaking out and opening textile fabrics and has been specially designed 'for thus treating fabrics as they come from the dye-kettle or washing machine during the process of finishing them.

Those who are familiar with cloth-finishing processes are aware of the twisted and wrinkled condition of alength of goods when it comes from the dye-kettle or washing-machine and realize the necessity of some device for effectively and rapidly shaking the folds, wrinkles, and twists out of the fabric and smoothing or opening it, so that it can be properly folded. I haveendeavored to devise a simple and easily-operated machine for effecting this result and one which will require a minimum amount of attention.

The invention comprises a device which operates first to shake different parts of the length of fabric successively, thereby removing the greater part ofthe twist inthe fabric, and then to open or smooth out the fab ric, thus placing it in condition to be plicated or folded. i

In this embodiment of my inventionl have provided a pair of jaws between which the cloth is adapted to be passed, means to vibrate or oscillate said jaws, and means to draw thelength of cloth between the jaws. The vibrating or oscillating movement of the jaws operates to shake the larger twists and wrinkles out of the cloth, the completion of this opening or smo0thing-out operation being performed bythe special shape of the jaws as the cloth is drawn between them.

I will preferably combine with my shakingout device a foldingjdevice of some suitable form, by means of which the opened out cloth may be properly folded.

In the drawings, Figure 1 1 s a side elevation of my improved machine, andFig. 2 is a front view thereof.

The operative parts of the machine are mounted on a suitable frame 1, which in this embodiment of my invention is constructed to be suspended from a suitable support, such as the ceiling 3 of the room, by means of suitablehangers 5.

The shaking-out device comprises a pair of jaws 6, between which the fabric is passed and which will preferably be hung from a shaft 7 by means of arms or hangers 8. The jaws are vibrated or oscillated constantly by means of a pitman 9, operated from a crank 10 on a counter-shaft 11. The shaft 11 may be operated in any suitable way; but I have herein shown it as being driven from the shaft 7 by any suitable means, such as a sprocket-chain 12, running The shaft 7 is herein illustrated as being driven from the main driving-shaft 14 by means of belt 15. This particular way of giving the shaking-out device its oscillation, however, is not essential to my invention, and any other suitable vibrating mechanism may be employed, if desired. The shaft 11 will preferably extend clear across the frame, and; each end thereof will be connected to onesideof the shaking-out device by means of a crank 10 and pitman 9.

I have herein shown the jaws 6 as being supported on two rods 16, which connect the two hangers 8, though this particular construction is not essential. and the jaws may be connected to the hangers in any suitable way. The jaws have such a construction that as the cloth is drawn between them they will operate to smooth and open this purpose each jaw has the curved opening edge 19 and the inclined smoothing-ribs 20, said ribs converging toward the center of the curved smoothing edge 19. I will preferably give the jaws a skeleton construction, as best seen in Fig. 2, and they may either be made as one integral structure or the two jaws may be separate from each other and connected together in any suitable way. It is only essential that they be spaced apart sufliciently to admit of the cloth being passed therebetween and that they have such a shape as to tend to smooth or open out the cloth. The cloth the cloth. For

over sprocketu wheels 13 on the shafts 7 and 11, respectively? may be drawn through the jaws by anysuitable device, and that herein shown comprises two delivery-rolls 30, which will preferably br geared together and one of which is mounted on the driving-shaft 14., and is therefore positively driven. In the particular embodiment of my invention herein shown the cloth is illustrated as passing over the shaft 7 after it leaves the shaking-out jaws and then under the tension-roll 26 to the delivery-rolls.

33 designates any suitable form of folder by means of which the opened-out cloth is plicated or folded. This folder is herein illustrated as receiving its vibrations by being connected to a crank-wheel 36 by means of a pitman 37, said crank-wheel being driven from the driving-shaft 14 by any suitable means.

In the operation of the device the cloth, which may be taken from a suitable receptacle 38, is passed between the jaws 6, over the shaft 7, and between the delivery-rolls 30, as shown in Fig. 1, and as the cloth is drawn through the device the vibrating motion of the jaws operates most effectively to shake out the twists and larger folds or wrinkles in that part of the cloth depending from the jaws. As the partially-opened cloth passes between the jaws the curved smoothing edges 19 and the smoothing-ribs 20 operate to open the cloth completely, so that when it emerges from between the back bars 38 of the jaws it is in a smooth and straight condition. As the cloth is delivered from the delivery-rolls 30 it passes through the folder 33 and is properly folded. In order to prevent the cloth as it enters the jaws from working around toward the sides of the latter, I employ suitable adjustable guides 40, herein shown as adjustably mounted upon the rods 16. These guides by engaging the edges of the opened out fabric serve to hold the latter at the central portion of the jaws.

It will be seen from the above that I ac complish the opening out of the fabric by subjecting different parts of the same successively to a shaking operation and also to the smoothing operation of smoothing-ribs. I believe that I am the first to provide a device for accomplishing this object, which in addition to the usual smoothing operation of smoothing-ribs subjects different parts of the cloth successively to a shaking operation, and therefore I intend to claim, broadly, devices for shaking out and opening textile fabric regardless of the particular construction of the shaking-out devices, for it will be obvious that the shaking operation can be performed by variously-constructed devices.

The details of the construction herein illustrated, therefore,may be varied in many ways without departing from the spirit of the in.- vention expressed in the following claims, some of which are very broad.

One advantage that Iderive from the structure illustrated is that it can be suspended from an overhead support, and therefore vices for giving takes no floor room is of great importance in places where the floor-space'is limited.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s

1. In a machine of the'class described, devices for shaking out and opening difierent parts of a length of fabric successively.

2. In a machine of the class described, devices for shaking out and opening different parts of a length of fabric successively, combined with a folding device.

3. In a machine of the class described, an oscillating shaker and opener, and means to draw the material to be opened therethrough.

4. In a machine of the class described, a shaking-out device, and means to cause the same to act on different parts of a length of fabric successively.

5. In a machine of the class described, de-

the fabric to be opened a shaking motion, and means to smooth the fabric.

6. In a machine of the class described, devices for giving the fabric to be opened a shaking motion, and means to smooth the fabric, combined with a folder.

7. In a machine of the class described, an oscillating shaker and opener, and means to cause said shaker and opener to act on different parts of a length of fabric successively.

8. In a machine of the class described, an oscillating shaker, and means to smooth the fabric after the twists and folds have been shaken out of it.

9. An oscillating shaker, means to smooth the fabric after the twists and folds have been shaken out of it, and means to cause said shaker to operate on different parts of a length of fabric successively.

10. In a machine of the class described, a pair of jaws, means to oscillate said jaws, and means to draw the fabric to be opened through the jaws.

11. In a machine of the class described, a pair of jaws, having curved smoothing or opening edges, jawvibrating mechanism, and means to draw the fabric to be smoothed through said jaws.

12. In a machine of the class described, a pair of jaws between which the fabric is received, said jaws having curved opening and smoothing edges and inclined smoothing-ribs,

jaw-vibrating mechanism, and means to draw the length of fabric through said jaws.

13. In a machine of the class described, a pair of jaws having curved smoothing or opening edges, jaw-vibrating mechanism, and means to draw the fabric to be smoothed through said jaws, combined with a folding device.

14. In a machine of the class described, a pair of jaws having curved smoothing or opening edges, jaw-vibrating mechanism, means to draw the fabric to be smoothed through said jaws, and guides to engage the whateverQ-a feature which edges of the fabric and maintain the latter properly positioned with relation to the jaws.

15. In a machine of the class described, a pair of jaws between which the fabric is received, said jaws having curved opening and smoothing edges and inclined smoothing-ribs, jaw-vibrating mechanism, means to draw the length of fabric through said jaws, and adjustable guides to engage the edges of the brating mechanism, and nieansto cause the shaker and opener to operate on different parts of a length of fabric successively.

18. In a machine. of the class described, a shaker and opener having depending jaws, means to vibrate said jaws, and means to draw a length of fabric through the jaws.

19. In a machine of the class described, a shaft, a pair of shaking and opening jaws depending therefrom, means to rotate the shaft and vibrate the jaws simultaneously, and a pair of delivery-rolls to draw the cloth to be opened through the jaws.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

DAVID WELSH.

Witnesses:

LOUIS 0. SMITH, GEO. W. GREGORY. 

